White House blues and Tehran anger

Suspense mounted throughout the week in Washington over whether two of
George Bush's White House lieutenants would be indicted by a grand jury for unmasking a CIA agent to journalists. The saga of
Karl Rove and
Lewis 'Scooter' Libby came to a climax at the end of a bad week for the president, whose choice for the supreme court,
Harriet Miers, his personal lawyer, threw in the towel. Miers had come under intense scrutiny from senators and rightwing Republicans, who doubted her abilities for the court.

The UN issued fresh appeals for help in Pakistan. Some European countries were accused of effectively ignoring the plight of millions after the earthquake or failing to stump up cash they promised.

Iran raised the diplomatic temperature around the world when its new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called for the state of Israel to be "wiped of the map". Many countries protested and Israel called for Iran to be thrown out of the UN.

Meanwhile, tributes were paid by world leaders to Rosa Parks, the black woman whose refusal to give a white man her seat on an Alabama bus 50 years ago sparked a civil rights protest that helped to break racial segregation in America. She died at her Detroit home on Monday, aged 92.

And finally, we heard from British artist Damien Hirst, who has taken up residence in Mexico. He told the Guardian he was giving up some of his trademark art pieces - spots and butterflies etc - but not before producing his debut show in Mexico City with a shark in a tank and a skull at the centre of a red "spin" painting.